When the owner of this 1967 XKE Roadster contacted me about his car, he was kind of undecided as to whether he was ready to actually sell it or not. After about 6 months, he called me back and was ready to let it go. I had only his verbal description to go on, but I made the drive to go see it. This is what I found:

The Jag had been sitting since the 1970's in a carport. In the 1980's the carport was enclosed, except for the front. In the 1990's a wall was built directly in front of the car, effectively entombing it.

It appeared to be very well preserved, since it had been out of the elements for all these years. It was straight, and absolutely rust free from what I could see.

The results of lying dormant for years - cracked leather, shredded soft top, and rubber that was hard as a rock.

I had to have this car, so we agreed on a price and then had to figure out how to remove it from it's resting place. "No problem" said the owner, "I'll tear this wall down and call you when it's ready to be picked up." He called me in two days, and I went back with my trailer and hooked it up. I had to bring 4 wheels with decent tires that would hold air.

Once out in the open, the Jag looked even better.....

....I remember thinking that this one was going to be really fun to clean up!

Once back at the shop, the clean up commenced. Here are some photos of how that went:

After confirming that the engine was free, the gas tank was removed for cleaning. Here is the trunk floor in the original paint-spectacular.

Here is the passenger floor, perfectly preserved with the original insulation intact.

The engine cleaned up nicely, carbs were rebuilt, and once started and sorted, it ran perfectly.

The upholstery was 100% original and a perfect place to start a re-trim.

Elbow grease and the right cleaner.....chrome wires, before and after.

The rest of the chrome and paint cleaned up incredibly well and were a far cry from what they were.

As soon as it got to this point as a nice driver, a very good friend of mine talked me out of it.....